I am grateful to be this survivor custom’s new caretaker and am wanting to restore to how it was in then and need yalls help to find out some info on it! So here’s the rough of what I know, it’s supposedly been in NC it’s whole life, looks to have been customized in the early 60’s the front grill is missing but was told that it was hand fabricated and matched the rear grill, had a small block and at some point a 3spd overdrive that was a floor shift? The whole car is done really well. all lead no bondo. Also has 62 olds tail lights? Any help is greatly appreciated!!!!
Even like it "is", it's a 56 Chevrolet convertible, and can be taken back to stock. It would be worth far more stock, than if it was restored as a custom, but it's your car as they say, and you can do anything you want with it. I have absolutely NO idea of it's history; it is definitly different. What are your plans with it? Good luck with whatever direction you go. I'm just a lover of mostly stock 56 Chevrolet's. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.
Hope your plans call for restoring it to its Custom Beauty. There is no shortage of 56 Chevrolet Convertible Stockers. I live in a small town and there are three here. As the Custom it once was it is one of a kind, that says a lot when you think about it.
This picture of it comes from the Hot Rod magazine Yearbook No 1 published in 1963. I think I have seen one or two more pictures of it.
Thanks @Rikster...Thanks @hotdamn...Yeah HotDamn is right...that is Super Cool beyond Cool Congratulations HotDamn...you are very fortunate and it actually looks pretty solid despite the flaking. Please keep us up on things...That sure is gonna generate a whole lotta Wow today...The greatest thing of all is you want it to be what it was again...good on you...
It’s awesome , who’d ruin something like that by “restoring to stock” . When you get there can you post up a pick of how that rear grill was fabricated?
Once again I just don't get why people who have spent so much time and money, either building, or buying a custom like this, let it fall into absolute disrepair. I just don't get it.
I remember seeing that custom in magazines back in the day. A lot of customs back then were butt ugly but I liked that one. I would restore it to its custom glory days. It would be worth come coin in that configuration. Maybe Moriarty would buy it from you
I instantly recognized this from the magazines, for the distinctive grille. I hope you can do as good a job as the original... It is real Kustom Art! (EDIT: The scalloped paint job is also one for the ages! )
oh man, that is bitchin... did you get the hood with it? Yes absolutely restore it back to its former custom glory!!!
That is a awesome find, thank god you are going to restore it to its glory, and not put some used white wall tires, clear it and call it patina.
storage is expensive. But I think the main thing is that time gets away from us...just moved it outside for the day, but it never made it back inside, 50 years later.
Rikster comes through again.. Good for you saving this car, and I agree, stock sucks. No offense to the previous poster, but I wouldn't give a shit about relative value.
I remember seeing it in old magazine show coverage. Think it said "Joker" under the hood. Sent from my SM-T350 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I love it, very clean styling job, looking forward to seeing it restored and preserved. Rikster's photo is a great start. Looks like possibly brake line tubing was used on the grille and rear? Or are they solid bars? Kinda surprising to see Hot Rod mag call it a "Semi-Custom" when today it looks so wild.
"Semi-Custom" was the prevailing terminology of the day, which referred to fully customized cars that lacked any of the four modifications (chop, channel, section, shorten) that qualified them for "Radical" status. A great many famous cars competed in this category. Bailon's "Golden Corona"...1958 Oakland Roadster Show winner, Semi-Custom Convertible. Imagine how wild this was in 1958!!!
Awsome custom ! With the rear grilling still there,you even have the way the front was done,making restore a little EZer. Love it
Cool show pic ! Back very early 60s, with my Custom Henry J,,,,I would take my one rear wheel off some times,it was the only brakes that were chromed,none of the other 3,but fans thought all 4 must be . show,if it was a 3 day indoor show. THere was one show that I had removed the front nerfbars,and had started to put a liike new Corvair front bumper on,didn't get it done in time,so you see it just laying in front of my car. In my sand beach display I did for a 3 day show.
It is a process, not an event. Builder/First owner take car to shows, pamper and garage it. Then it gets sold to 2nd owner, and he may not have a garage, having scraped up every cent he could, so he could purchase his dream ride. At that point the car is one minor mechanical issue away from being parked in the backyard under a tree, because the new owner has no spare cash to fix it, and in his mind it is still worth the amount he paid for it, or he loves the car so much he can't let it go. Then, he dies, and it becomes "Dad's car", and on and on and on it goes. I'm sure there are other sets of circumstances, but they all lead back to the point that the owner is entitled to do (or not do) whatever he wants.
To put it another context. Ask yourself if you have ANYTHING sitting around your home/shop/storage unit that you haven’t looked at in years. Doesn’t have to be automotive, can be any personal item(s). Bet when you think about it a lot of it has been sitting longer than you think. In this case it was a car.
That's one cool looking car. There's a couple of light bulbs hanging down under the raer grille. Would the rear grille have been backlit? Or are they just hanging all the way down from the tail light?
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